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Monday, May 30, 2011

There are a few movies that have served as “touchstones” for me. They put me in touch with things I had forgotten or revealed aspects I had never before considered. It’s a Wonderful Life reminded me that each of our lives touch so many others. Field of Dreams showed me that whenever we hear “the call” and follow it, many are blessed and find healing — including us. Then there is Joe Versus the Volcano.

Joe Versus the Volcano is about a guy named Joe (played by Tom Hanks) who had once approached life with pluck and vitality but then somehow became afraid. In a play on words early in the movie, he assesses his situation. He is in his office holding up one of his shoes, the bottom of which is flapping open. The office secretary (played by Meg Ryan) comes in and says, “What’s with the shoe?” Joe answers somberly, “I’m losing my sole” (read “soul”).

Joe had become a hypochondriac, or as he tells his doctor, he “began to not feel well all the time.” The doctor informs him that he has a “brain cloud” and gives him only six months to live. This is devastating news, but it also serves to give Joe a new sense of freedom. He quits his job and ponders how he will live the remainder of his life.

Enter Mr. Graynemore (Lloyd Bridges), a wealthy businessman who wants to trade with the people of Waponi Wu (“Little Island with the Big Volcano”). To do this, however, he must first provide a hero for the Waponies, someone who will jump into the Great Wu and appease the god of the volcano. He seeks to enlist Joe for this task, offering unlimited resources until the jump — the chance to “live like a king, die like a man!”

Joe agrees and the adventure begins. After a day of buying clothes and supplies for the journey, including four deluxe steamer trunks, he flies to L.A. where he connects with the yacht which will sail him to the island of the volcano.

The boat is skippered by Graynemore’s daughter Patricia (Meg Ryan, again). Patricia describes herself as “soul-sick,” and we discover that she, too, had once ventured out into the world but then became afraid. But she is challenged by the fact that Joe has been rediscovering his sense of wonder about the world. “My father says that almost the whole world is asleep,” she tells him, “Everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake, and they live in a state of constant, total amazement.”

The next morning, the yacht is engulfed by a typhoon and sent to the bottom of the ocean. All that survive are Joe, Patricia, and the four steamer trunks, which Joe lashes together to form a lifeboat. They are castaway on the ocean for days, Patricia unconscious all the while.

Joe is bedraggled, wasted by sun, salt and sea. This is not what he had bargained for. Nevertheless, he has no complaint. One night, in a delirious state, he sees moon appear full and huge in the night sky. He falls to his knees in gratitude. “Dear God, whose name I do not know, thank you for my life. I forgot how big ... Thank you, thank you for my ...,” he prays, his voice trailing off as he collapses into unconsciousness.

The steamer-trunk-lifeboat finally arrives at the island of the Waponies and Joe prepares to face the volcano. Patricia, who has now rediscovered her own sense of wonder wants to marry Joe and join him in the jump. He argues at first but then relents. As they stare into the fiery mouth he asks, “So, what are we hoping for here?” “A miracle,” she answers. And together they leap.

But of course, that is not the end. A miracle does occur: the volcano spits them out into the ocean where they are reunited with the steamer trunks. Joe and Patricia resolve to face together whatever life sends and, as the final caption reads, they live happily ever after (it turns out that the “brain cloud” diagnosis was merely part of a false set-up by Mr. Graynemore).

Joe Versus the Volcano reminds me of another story, an old Hasidic tale about a man and a volcano. The Baal Shem Tov (Master of the Good Name), a venerable old Jewish rebbe was dying and his son, Rebbe Hersh, was chosen to take over the movement. But Rebbe Hersh was reticent, feeling himself unworthy of the mantle of such leadership. One night in a dream, he spoke to the figure of his deceased father. “How can I serve God?” he begged. “Like this,” came the answer as the Baal Shem climbed a high mountain and threw himself into the abyss. In another dream on another night, the Baal Shem came again, but this time he appeared as a mountain afire, a million blazing fragments showering forth. “And like this, also,” he said.

These stories ring true to me, for living truly and serving God (to serve God is to live truly) has always been about jumping into the gaping abyss of the volcano and taking the leap of abandonment into the will and love of God. It is a trial by fire. “Our God is a consuming fire,” says Moses (Deuteronomy 4:24), a fire which burns away the dross of our lives so that God might bring us forth as gold (Job 23:10).

Jesus showed us that the way to life is not by holding on to it but by letting it go. He taught us that “whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39) and “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” (Luke 9:25).

His whole life, even to the end, was an abandonment to the will of God. On the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus asked the Father that he might be delivered from that death, but submitted with these words, “Yet not as I will but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). And so, on Good Friday he climbed the mountain and leaped into the volcano. But he came bursting forth on Easter Sunday like a mountain afire, finding life for us all.

The Apostle Paul understood this very well. Philippians 2 records an early hymn of the church which celebrates the leap of Christ, “who being in very nature God ... humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!” And because of this, God exalted Jesus “and gave him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:6-11).

In Philippians 3, Paul spoke of his own leap. All the things that he might have held on to for himself — pride, position, power — he gave up, declaring, “whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (v. 7). He had one burning desire, “to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” (v. 10). He wanted to share in the abandonment of himself with Christ in the blaze of suffering persecution for his sake and shoot out of the mountain with Christ in the radiance of resurrection power. For one must always accompany the other; leaping in and bursting forth, abandonment and resurrection.

The volcano stands before us now and we must face it, for it is the only way to fullness of life. We must scale the mountain and stand upon the rim as the sparks and cinders fly upward, to stare into the abyss and abandon ourselves into the fiery love of God. Jesus stands beside us and takes our hand. So, what are we hoping for here? A miracle: the power of Jesus’ resurrection.

Friday, May 27, 2011

The angel of the Lord came to Joseph and told him that Mary was with child. “She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Except the angel did not call Him “Jesus.” That is the English rendering of the name. In Greek, the language the New Testament was written in, it is Iesous. But the angel probably didn’t call Him that either.

Joseph and Mary were both Hebrew, and though they possibly knew Greek, the angel most likely spoke to them in Hebrew, or its cousin, Aramaic. In Hebrew, Mary’s son would be called Yeshua, which is a form of the word yeshuah, one of the forms of yasha, the Hebrew word for “salvation.” Those forms, along with another, yesha, appear over 300 times in the Old Testament. Almost every instance refers to the saving acts of Yahweh, the salvation that comes from the LORD.

The primitive root means to be open, wide or free. The range of meaning of its various forms includes: v. to save, help, deliver, defend, rescue, preserve, get victory; n. liberty, deliverance, prosperity, health, welfare (from Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions). Often, it is associated with and is an expression of the righteousness, justice or mercy of God.

So now the angel’s explanation makes sense: “You will call Him Salvation, for He will save His people from their sins.”

All of that is to say this: Salvation is a person. Not just anybody, but a specific person. The Old Testament revealed God as the salvation of His people and of all who call upon His name. The New Testament reveals what that name is and whose it is. He is the source of every kind of salvation we could ever need, of deliverance from and victory over any and every oppressor. He is our help in every situation, our welfare, our healing, our prosperity and our defense. He reveals divine righteousness and justice, the mercy, grace and love of God to us. He is our shalom, our peace, our wholeness.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Although I have been working through Paul's letter to the Colossians pretty much in a linear fashion, I would like to bounce back to something that impressed me recently as I read through it once again.

Paul, an apostle of the Messiah, Jesus, by the will of God. (Colossians 1:1 JVD)

Nobody was more surprised than Paul that he should be an apostle of Jesus the Messiah, and that this was the will of God. He had once been very violently opposed to Jesus and those who followed Him as Messiah. This was back when Paul was known as Saul.

As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. (Acts 8:3)

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2)

But then, of course, he had his “Damascus road experience” — which was the original Damascus road experience. He had a dramatic encounter with Jesus. The story is told in Acts 9. As Saul came near the city, a bright light shone around him and he fell to the ground. He heard a voice speaking to him.

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

“Lord, what do You want me to do?”

“Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Saul, his eyes blinded by that moment, continued on to Damascus, not knowing what would happen next. There was a man there named Ananias, whom the Lord Jesus directed to go to Saul, lay hands on him and restore his sight. Ananias did not understand why, because he had heard of how Saul persecuted Jesus’ followers at Jerusalem. The Lord answered, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

Ananias went and Saul was healed. Immediately Saul went to the synagogues of Damascus and began to preach that Jesus is the Son of God. He became part of the very movement he had originally intended to rub out there. Now he himself became a target and the Jewish leaders there plotted to kill him. But the believers there help him get away safely.

Saul went back to Jerusalem to join with the believers there, the ones he had once persecuted. But his former reputation was still with him, and the disciples at Jerusalem feared him. They did not believe he was now one of them. But Barnabas took him before the apostles and told them what had happened, how Saul had seen the Lord on the road to Damascus, how he had preached the name of Jesus boldly about Jesus there and was himself persecuted for it. Then the believers at Jerusalem received him as a disciple.

So now, in his letter to the believers at Colosse, Paul identifies himself, as he does in many of his other letters, as an apostle of Jesus the Messiah. He who had once rejected Jesus and persecuted His followers was now sent by Jesus to represent him before the nations.

It was the will of God, and no one was more surprised by it than Paul.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (Colossians 1:29)

Paul’s purpose in preaching the good news about Jesus was to present everyone perfect in Him. Everything in him was focused on that goal. This little verse is loaded with the power by which he went about that work. “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”

The Greek word for “labor” means to toil to the point of fatigue.

The word for “striving” is agonizomai, which is where we get our English word “agony.” We often think of it as intense pain, but Paul is actually talking about intense effort.

The word for “working” is energeia, from which we get the English word “energy.” It is the ability or strength to operate efficiently and get things done.

The word for “work” is the verb form, energeo.

The word “mightily” actually translates two words that are more literally rendered as “in power.” The Greek word for power is dynamis. When Paul uses it, it is almost always about supernatural power and usually about the miraculous power of God.

Paul labored hard and put forth great effort for the sake of Jesus and the Church. Yet, it was not his energy that did the work. His whole life now was about Jesus the Messiah and the life of Messiah living in him. He was energized with the energy of Jesus! “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). This energy was the supernatural power of God at work in and through him to accomplish mighty things, which he could never have hoped to do on his own. His whole ministry was a display of God’s mighty power through Jesus the Messiah.

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:19-20)

The energy that worked in Paul so powerfully was not just for him but is available to every believer in Jesus. For it is the His power, the power by which He did so many miraculous things. Indeed, it is the power that raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of the Father. It is the power of the Holy Spirit, which He promised to the Church at Pentecost (Acts 1:8). Paul prayed for the believers at Colosse that they would be “strengthened with all might,” according to this glorious power” (Colossians 1:11). It is power of Jesus living in them — and us! — as well as in Paul.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Paul’s preaching is all about Jesus the Messiah, and by it he constantly “warns” (admonishes or exhorts) and teaches every man. Exhortation calls for action or response, which in this case is repentance, turning to God through faith in Jesus the Messiah. Teaching has to do with instruction concerning the content of that faith, the truth about who Jesus is and what that means in God’s plan for the world.

Notice that Paul says “every man” three times (the Greek refers to every human being, whether male or female). He exhorts every person and teaches every person so that he might present every person perfect in Jesus. Gnostic teaching was not intended for everyone, only for those who attained a certain level of understanding. But Paul’s gospel, the truth about Jesus the Messiah, is for all.

Paul exhorts and teaches everyone “in all wisdom.” This is not the wisdom of the world, nor the wisdom of the Gnostics, whose secret teachings were limited only to some, but the wisdom of God.

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:20-24)

The wisdom of God is available to everyone in Jesus the Messiah. “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Nothing is held back, for in Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

In Colossians 1:22, Paul spoke of how Jesus came to present us holy, blameless and above reproach in the eyes of the Father. In verse 28, Paul desires to present everyone perfect in Jesus, through faith in the gospel. The Greek verb for “present” in both verses is in the aorist tense, which speaks of completed action, as distinct from ongoing or progressive action. Jesus does not have to present us over and over again as holy and blameless before God. Once He has presented us, it is a done deal. Likewise, Paul does to seek to present everyone over and over in Jesus, but to present everyone in such a way that has enduring effect, and that is by faith.

The Greek word for “perfect” is teleios and refers to something that is mature and complete, fulfilling the purpose for which it was made. Here again, Paul counters error without even mentioning it by name, simply by teaching the truth. Teleios was another word used by the Gnostics, but only of those who attained complete understanding of their doctrine; it was a perfection only a few would attain. But Paul preaches the gospel to everyone, exhorting and teaching everyone about Jesus so that everyone might be found perfect and complete in Him.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Saturday, May 21, 2011

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Paul is caught up in the richness of the glorious mystery that has been given him by God to make known to everyone who believes in Jesus, who are the “saints,” the ones set apart as His own, the Church. This was not just for believing Jews, who had an expectation that Messiah would come to deliver them and fulfill God’s purpose for Israel, but also — and this was a surprise — believing Gentiles. Paul speaks of that in his letter to the believers at Ephesus.

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh — who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands — that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11-13)

This is the mystery “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:5-6). Peter speaks similarly in one of his letters of those who “once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:10).

The mystery of which Paul now speaks is not merely that we are all named together as the people of Jesus the Messiah. It is not even that He dwells among us. The rich glory in which Paul revels is that Jesus, God’s Messiah, dwells in us! “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Jesus now lives His life in us by the Holy Spirit. Paul says,

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9)

This is the mystery that has been revealed: All the fullness of God dwells in Jesus, and Jesus dwells in us. In this, we find the “hope of glory,” the joyful expectation of every good thing in God being revealed throughout our entire spiritual, physical beings. The apostle Peter speaks of the same thing in this way:

His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. (1 Peter 1:3-4)

The apostle John said it like this: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

It is in Jesus, not in any angelic order, that we have this joyful expectation and partake of the divine nature. As we begin to live in anticipation of His divine life being made fully known in us, we find that we are changed here and now.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

… of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. (Colossians 1:25-26)

The words,“of which,” refer to the Church, the body of Jesus the Messiah. Paul identifies himself as a minister of the Church. The sufferings he spoke of in verse 24 were for the sake of the Church.

“Mystery” is one of Paul’s favorite words. He uses it seventeen times in his letters, including four times in this one. The stewardship he received from God concerns divine mysteries. “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1). A mystery is a secret. Gnostic religion had mysteries, secret teachings not given to all but were revealed only as one progressed to a certain level of knowledge. For Paul, however, the mysteries of which he was given stewardship were secrets that, though they were once hidden, were now revealed to every believer. His stewardship was to “fulfill the word of God,” that is, to preach the mysteries that God has to us revealed in Jesus the Messiah.

We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)

Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

By revelation He made known to me the mystery … which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:3-6)

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:8-9)

We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones ... This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:30-32)

[Pray] for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. (Ephesians 6:19)

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51)

These divine mysteries reveal to every believer how God is redeeming the world through Jesus the Messiah.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Monday, May 16, 2011

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church. (Colossians 1:24)

Paul endured many afflictions for the sake of the gospel. “In my flesh,” he says, again affirming (against the Gnostic idea that matter is evil) the physical, this world nature of the gospel. Jesus the Messiah has a body, a physical presence in the world. The Church is that body and Paul is part of the Church, so when he is persecuted, the Church suffer affliction, and when the Church suffers affliction, Jesus suffers affliction in His body. In one of his letters to the believers at Corinth, Paul details some of the persecutions he experienced.

In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness — besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)

This came as no surprise. When Paul (then known as Saul) was converted on the road to Damascus, and was literally blinded by the experience, God spoke to another man, Ananias, to go and lay hands on him to restore his sight. Ananias was reluctant; it was still only very recently that Saul had been persecuting believers. But the Lord Jesus said, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).

When Paul speaks of “filling up” what was lacking in the “afflictions of Christ,” he is not referring to the passion of the cross and the work of atonement Jesus did for us there — that work was full and complete! Rather, he is talking about being persecuted for the sake of Jesus and the gospel. Paul suffered many afflictions, as did the other apostles, because of the message they preached. In Acts 5, for instance, we read about Peter and the apostles, when they were arrested and put in jail. The authorities were so enraged they wanted to kill them but released them instead, warning them not to preach about Jesus anymore. “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:41-42). Indeed, Jesus promised that this sort of thing would happen.

Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Paul and the other apostles did not just put up with these afflictions — they rejoiced in them! He explains why in his letter to the Jesus believers at Philippi, written from a prison cell (as indeed is this letter to the believers at Colosse).

But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith. (Philippians 1:12-25)

Persecution for the sake of the gospel has persisted throughout the history of the Church. Even today, there are many Christians around the world who are being cruelly treated and martyred for their faith in Jesus (for example, see The Voice of the Martyrs). They are “filling up” the “afflictions of Christ,” and yet, surprisingly — and supernaturally — they rejoice! Jesus is glorified in their physical bodies, whether by life or by death, and they are with Him.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Friday, May 13, 2011

… if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Colossians 1:23)

It is the Father’s good will to reconcile all things in heaven and earth through the Son, by the shedding of His blood on the cross. This is the good news of the gospel. We participate in this reconciliation by believing the gospel of Jesus the Messiah. This was the good news the believers at Colosse first heard from Epaphras, who learned it from Paul. This gospel, then, was the one Paul himself ministered and which had gone out into all the world.

“If indeed you continue in the faith.” They had already begun in the faith and were “grounded and steadfast” in it (Paul gave thanks for that earlier). The Greek words picture a building properly settled on a good foundation. Paul does not want them to be “moved away” or shifted off the foundation that has been laid for them, the “hope of the gospel.” Hope is not about uncertainty but expectation. Their expectation was seated on a good foundation, the gospel, which Paul was always zealous to protect.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. (1 Corinthians 3:10-13)

Now Paul wants them to continue in the faith in which they began, and indeed, he is confident that they will. That is exactly why he writes. He sees false teaching coming in on them and he wants to preempt it and prevent it from gaining any foothold, so that they remain firm in their faith in Jesus and the wonderful expectation that comes from the gospel.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

The good news of Jesus the Messiah is the reconciliation of heaven and earth, and the foundation of every good expectation for those who continue in their faith in Him.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight. (Colossians 1:21-23)

In Jesus the Messiah heaven and earth are reconciled and peace has been made between God and humankind through the blood of His cross. Paul now shows how this works.

We once were alienated from God. This estrangement resulted in broken relationships — with creation, each other, even within our own selves. We were out of joint with earth as well as heaven. We were “enemies” (the Greek word means “hateful”) towards God. Our thoughts and imaginations about God were hostile and this revealed itself through bitter, hostile deeds.

“Yet now,” Paul says. What wonderful words those are! What Paul just described about alienation and enemies was before. But now everything has changed because Jesus has reconciled us, brought us back into proper relationship with God. That makes all the difference in the world because now we have full access into the presence of God. Jesus has done this through His own flesh-and-blood body. Paul emphasizes this once more because false teachers would have denied that the Son of God even had a physical body, much less that any reconciliation could have been accomplished through it.

God was pleased to reconcile us through the cross of Jesus the Messiah so that He could “present” us holy, blameless and above reproach in His sight. The Greek verb for “present” is in the aorist tense, signifying completed action, a “done deal.” To be holy means to be consecrated, set apart for God and God alone. “Without blame” picks up the idea of a spotless offering, without blemish. “Above reproach” (not just without reproach but above reproach) means that no charge can now be laid against us.

But how can this be, for who among us has lived blamelessly and above reproach? Yet, Jesus presents us this way before the Father. He alone was without sin and spotless, and He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sake, making peace through His body and blood and death on the cross. He Himself is the sacrifice presented before the Father, and it is as we are in Him, through faith in Him, that we are presented before God as holy and blameless and above reproach. That is how God sees us now as well as how He will see on us on the final day when we stand before Him.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. (Ephesians 1:3-4)

Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

The devil is an accuser. In fact, that is what diabolos, the Greek word for “devil,” actually means, accuser or slanderer. In Revelation 12:10, he is called, “the accuser of our brethren.” However, there is now no accusation he can make that can stand against us. Ever.

Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? … For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:33-35, 38-39)

Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. (Revelation 12:10)

Focus Questions

Where do you locate yourself in God’s plan for reconciliation, with regard to your relationship with God, creation, others and your own self?

Jesus has presented us holy and blameless before the Father. What confidence does that give you concerning your relationship with God?

We often do not experience ourselves as being holy and blameless. What will you answer when the voice of the accuser whispers in your ear?

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Monday, May 9, 2011

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

It pleased the Father that all the divine essence, power and attributes reside in the Son. But it also pleased God that all things in heaven and earth be reconciled by the Son. These are not two unrelated statements but belong together in a very important way. It was necessary that the fullness of God abide in the Son in order for all things in heaven and earth to be reconciled by Him. Because all things in heaven and earth were created by Him and for Him, and in Him all things hold together. This is, indeed, what makes it even possible for all things in heaven and earth to be reconciled.

Paul speaks about this reconciliation in his other letters, although a bit differently. God’s plan, he says, is that “in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him” (Ephesians 1:10).

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11)

Let’s go back to the beginning for a moment, when God made the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1. At the end of that chapter we read, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The physical creation was not evil, as the Gnostics supposed, but was very good. However, it fell away from the blessing of God because Adam, who was made from the dust of the earth (as well as the breath of God) and given dominion over it, rebelled against God.

This is why Jesus came — to set things right in the world. For the Gnostics, this simply was not possible because of their belief that the material world is not merely fallen but inherently evil. The amazing thing, though, is that Jesus has not only reconciled heaven and earth, but He did it in a very physical way: through the blood of His cross. The wood of the cross and the nails that pierced Him were real and tangible. So was the flesh of His body and the blood that He shed there. By these material realities, He has reconciled heaven and earth and made peace between God and humankind.

The emphasis here is on the Son. It is in Him, not through angelic intermediaries, that God has done this. It was through the shedding of His blood. Angels could not bring about reconciliation because they are not of earth. But the Son of God is of both heaven and earth, being fully divine and fully human. He is of heaven because He is the creator of all; He is of earth because He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus is the only one in the universe able to bring heaven and earth together — and He has done it through His own body and blood, and the crudeness of the cross.

The work necessary for reconciliation has already been accomplished. We live now in the time when the benefits of that work are being increasingly revealed in the world, especially in humankind.

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:19-22)

In the end, heaven and earth will be joined together, with the kingdom of God fully come and the will of God done on earth exactly as it is in heaven. We read about this in Revelation 21. In the meantime, “the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Saturday, May 7, 2011

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. (Colossians 1:19)

The word “for” introduces a reason or purpose. Here, Paul explains why God has done what He has in regard to the Son:

Why Jesus has come as the express image of the invisible God

Why He has been give supremacy over all creation

Why all things have been made by Him, through Him and for Him

Why all things hold together in Him

Why He is the head of the (the church), the beginning, and the firstborn from the dead

Why He has the preeminence in all things

It was because it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell!

Now, the words “the Father” are not in the Greek text, but the idea of God is certainly implied by the context. Different translations handle this in various ways. For example:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. (English Standard Version)

Because in him it did please all the fullness to tabernacle. (Young’s Literal Translation)

For God in full measure was pleased to be in him. (Bible in Basic English)

Because in Him [God] was well pleased that all the fullness be permanently at home. (Wuest’s Expanded Translation)

Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in Him. (Common English Bible)

The point is that all the fullness of the divine nature dwells in the Son. The “fullness” Paul is talking about is every power and attribute that belongs to God. The Greek word is pleroma. Paul appears to be using this word in particular in order to counter the false teachers who were trying to get into the church at Colosse. The false teaching they brought was probably an early form of Gnosticism.

Pleroma was the central term of the Gnostics, who used it to refer to God, but they believed that creation was separated from God by numerous demigods, angelic hierarchies or other intermediaries. Some intermediaries might possess this or that power while others might have various other divine attributes, but only God, who was very distant, possessed every divine power and attribute.

Paul, however, delivers a stunning blow to this doctrine. The Pleroma, the fullness of all the divine attributes and powers, is not far, far away, separated from us by layers and levels of entities and emanations. It has come very close to us — as close as human skin — in the person of Jesus the Messiah.

Paul will deliver this knockout punch again in Colossians 2:9: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (we will talk about this in its own context as we continue through Paul’s letter). The material creation is not evil, nor is the physical body, as the Gnostics supposed. But God considered it quite appropriate that the divine essence, with all the attributes and powers of God, should reside in the human flesh of the Son and dwell among us in the world.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Friday, May 6, 2011

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)

Jesus, the eternal Son of God, by whom and through whom and for whom all things were created, and in whom all things hold together, is called “the head of the body.” We always speak of head and body together; the one implies the other. A head without a body is pointless; a body without a head is lifeless. It is quite an amazing thing, then that Paul speaks of Jesus in this way. Who Paul identifies as the body of which Jesus is the head is equally amazing: It is the church, composed, not of hierarchies of angels, but of flesh and blood human beings, all those who belong to God through faith in Jesus the Messiah. Every believer at Colosse, for instance, belongs to the church and is a part of this body.

Jesus is the head of the body, the church. This speaks of vital relationship. The church is not an organization, an association that can be reduced to membership numbers and mission statements. No, it is an organic, living thing where every part flows with the life of the whole. Where does this life come from? From Jesus. He is not just the head of the body, He is the “beginning,” the source, the life of the church.

Jesus is also the “firstborn from the dead.” We were once dead in the rebellion of sin (Ephesians 2:1).

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

In Jesus, there is spiritual life and vitality. But there is more! God has raised Jesus’ physical body from the dead, and that is the guarantee that all those who belong to Him, who are part of His body, will share in His resurrection life. God will raise us, too, bodily and physically from the dead (see Resurrection Life Now! and Resurrection and the End of the Age).

Head, beginning, firstborn. These all speak of preeminence, and indeed, Jesus is supreme over all things, for God has

Raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:20-23)

God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Jesus is preeminent in all things, incomparable in every way, and His divine life flows through us now and forever.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Thursday, May 5, 2011

He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)

The Son of God existed before all things. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). As Paul says in Colossians 1:16, all things were made by Him, through Him and for Him. “In the beginning God …” refers to the creative work of the Son. He was not created like the angelic hierarchies that were the focus of the false teachers who were trying to penetrate the Christian community at Colosse. He existed long before them. Indeed, He has always existed. He is eternal.

Paul says that in Him all things “consist.” The ESV has, “In Him all things hold together.” The Bible in Basic English says, “In Him all things have being.” By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are visible were made by things which cannot be seen (Hebrews 11:3).

Everything is sustained in exactly the same way. The author of Hebrews speaks of the Son as being “the brightness of His [God’s] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). All things were created by the word of God; all things are upheld by the word of God.

It is no small thing, then, that Jesus is called the Word in John 1:1 or that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Everything comes from the invisible word of the invisible God, and everything continues to have being because of it. Jesus is the living and eternal Word who embodies and gives expression to the thoughts, desires and will of God. He is the source and sustainer of all creation.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:15-16)

Paul breaks into doxology now to sing the eternal glory and greatness of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God’s love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God. It sounds almost like a koan , a paradoxical saying. Like, What is the sound of one hand clapping? How can Jesus be the image of what is invisible?

God is invisible. He is Spirit. The material world was created by Him, but it is not Him. Though the world was created to be seen, God is not subject to that condition nor is He in any way limited by our inability to see Him. It is a matter for the eyes of faith. “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

We can see manifestations of God’s glory, but we cannot see Him in His essence, for He is the one who dwells “in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). But Jesus is the image of the one who is invisible. God created man in the image of God to be like Him on earth (Genesis 1:26-28), but Jesus is not only like God, He fully represents Him in every way. He is the “brightness of His glory, the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3).

Paul links the image of the invisible God with the firstborn of creation. Literally, “firstborn” speaks of one who is born first in a family. However, because the firstborn son was given the double portion inheritance, “firstborn” came to be used to speak of pre-eminence, of one who was worthy of the highest honor.

The Son of God was not created. Indeed, He is Himself the creator of everything. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). To declare this is to exalt Jesus as God, for “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Which was exactly the point John makes in his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus is the perfect image and expression of God because He is God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. John goes on to say of Him, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). That is why Jesus could say of Himself, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Paul is careful to note that Jesus is the creator of all things in heaven and on earth, “visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.” He may be alluding to the false teaching that was coming around the church at Colosse. The Gnostics taught that there were angelic hierarchies emanating from God, the lowest of which was the architect of the material world. They considered the physical world to be flawed and therefore evil, so they denied that the Word, who is God, became flesh. Against this, Paul asserts that all things, even the invisible things, were created by Jesus — by Him and through Him and for Him. The angels did not create Him; He created them.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

Paul transitions now from pastoral prayer to hymn of praise. This is what his prayer has been leading up to all along, and is what the believers at Colosse (and us, as well) desperately need to hear. He has come to the object of his passion — Jesus Messiah, Son of God — the One through whom God has made everything possible for Paul, for the Colossians and for us. He is the one who is to be exalted above all because it is in Him that everything comes together as God has always intended.

We have been delivered — rescued! — from the “power of darkness.” Jesus has done it by going through it for us. When the chief priests and the Temple guard came to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). On the cross, He dealt the death blow to the heart of darkness and destroyed its power from the inside out, bursting forth in glory three days later. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

God has also “conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” The Greek word for “conveyed” was often used of the transfer or relocation of large numbers of people from one region to another, settling them as colonists or citizens. Think of how God delivered the children of Israel from out of Egypt into the Promised Land. That is the kind of picture Paul creates here. God has transferred us from out of the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His Son. This is the Father’s inheritance for us. He has made us a colony of heaven on earth.

Do not think of this, though, as being removed from one kingdom into another, as if they were two powers, equal and opposite. It is not like that at all. The power of darkness is no match for the kingdom of God. Darkness is not a kingdom at all; it has no rightful dominion and whatever power it did have has been broken. “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

God has brought us into is the kingdom of the “Son of His love” that is, His very dear and beloved Son. When Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove and the voice of the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, hear Him” (Mark 9:7). It is through Jesus that we come into this kingdom, for we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).

This kingdom is the kingdom of light, because Jesus is the Light of the World. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5). In Him, we are light. “We are not of the night nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

The kingdom God has brought us into is a kingdom of redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This combination, redemption and forgiveness, pictures a slave purchased at the marketplace and released from bondage. It is in Jesus that we have been redeemed out of the slave market; the price paid was His blood. The Greek word for “forgiveness,” refers literally to sending away and speaks of release from bondage. In Jesus, the guilt of our sin is sent far away from us and we are set free.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at ColosseBite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Monday, May 2, 2011

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)

God created humankind to be His image and be like Him, to represent Him on the earth, to fill the earth with the image of God, to have dominion over the earth and subdue it. To have dominion means to rule over the earth, to exercise authority over it. To subdue the earth means to subordinate it, that is, bring it into order.

God created a garden on the earth for the man and woman to dwell. The whole earth was not a garden, though, only a portion of it. The man and the woman were to take care of the garden, to watch over and protect it. God blessed them and gave them charge over the garden, but also over the whole earth. The work of creation was now done, but the work of subduing and reigning over it was just beginning.

Man is the dust of the ground and the breath of God, created and authorized to represent heaven on earth. The garden God made was perfect and complete, the design of heaven on earth. Man’s role, then, was to bring the rest of the earth into divine order, into proper alignment with the garden God made.

Of course, man rebelled against God, and the earth itself came under a curse because of it. Even so, God had a plan to restore everything into proper relationship between man and God, between man and creation, between man and himself. The good news of the Gospel is that this plan of redemption and restoration is fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.

Now, let’s jump from the first book of the Old Testament to the first book of the New, to the sermon Jesus preached on the mount (I call it the Sermon of Heaven on Earth). In the middle of His preaching, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. We call this the Lord’s Prayer, and it is powerful. In it, Jesus gives us authority to subdue the earth and bring it into line with the design of heaven. He teaches us to pray to our Father in heaven: “Your kingdom, come! Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

The dominion over the earth that was corrupted by Adam through rebellion has been restored in the dominion of King Jesus and He has privileged us to share it with Him. Through this prayer, we exercise His dominion. By this prayer, we subdue the earth. Wherever we find anything out of alignment with the order of heaven, we can pray, “Kingdom of God, come to this place; will of God, be done here as it is in heaven,” and expect that it will be so. Through our prayer and worship, King Jesus changes the world and fulfills the charge God gave the first man and woman.

The Focus of Our Faith
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